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Glite Dictionary
💪 A hard challenge 🙅‍♀️ A demanding woman
ball-breaker

ball-breaker

1 9.1
A very hard task or job that is tiring and difficult
  • noun
  • /ˈbɔlˌbreɪkər/
  • Offensive
translation icon : paliza
  • Training for the marathon in this heat is a total ball-breaker.

Examples

  • That exam was a ball-breaker; hardly anyone finished on time.

  • Finishing the project by tomorrow is going to be a real ball-breaker.

  • This project is a real ball-breaker!

  • Working for that boss is like having a ball-breaker every day.

  • The new project at work is a real ball-breaker that requires us to work long hours.

  • He found the training program to be a ball-breaker, pushing him beyond his limits.

  • Facing the rigorous final exams felt like a ball-breaker for the students.

Synonyms

tough job
vsball-breaker
29 3.4

A difficult task that needs a lot of effort

suggests a harsher, more punishing demand than this phrase
ball-buster
vsball-breaker
  • NSFW
1 8.9

A job or task that is hard and makes you very tired

has identical meaning but is used as the main entry here
slave-driver
vsball-breaker
  • Offensive
1 7.5

A person who forces others to work very hard and treats them badly

can describe a harsh situation rather than the person doing it
ballbuster
vsball-breaker
  • Offensive
1 9.1

A very difficult task that needs a lot of effort

has identical meaning but differs only in form or spelling
backbreaker
vsball-breaker
1 7.0

A task that is very hard or makes your back hurt

applies to extreme demand even when it causes no physical harm
backbreaking task
vsball-breaker
5.3

A very hard job that makes your body very tired

covers extreme demand more generally, not only physical strain

Antonyms

breeze
  • Informal
33 2.1

An easy thing to do

How Demanding

ball-breaker
  • Offensive
1 9.1
challenge
∞ 3.1
task
∞ 1.0
breeze
  • Informal
33 2.1

Surface Forms

ball-breaker singular
ball-breakers plural

Morphology

ball-breaker = ball + breaker (semi-transparent) = ball + break + er

Formally a compound of 'ball' + 'breaker' whose components are identifiable, but the overall slang/idiomatic meaning ('demanding or punishing') is a metaphorical extension and not fully predictable.

Etymology

Ball-breaker comes from a rude image that joins the parts ball and break. Here ball is a crude word for male parts or for 'courage', and break means 'to destroy' or 'damage'. So a ball-breaker is a job, task, situation, or person that is very hard, demanding, or punishing.